Space, Time, a CIA Agents, and Don't Forget the Pineapple
by girlinpink44
Summary: When a case leaves Sydney and Shawn stumped, they will have to turn to some unusual help that will turn their world upside down. A fun little side story in the Sydney Series. Not sure if this is going to be in the actual series or not.
1. Of Lights And Home

** Long time no see!**

**I know, I know, I really dropped the ball on Sydney's Guide to Hostage Situations. But I'm working on it (see author's note attached there).**

**This one, was in response to the challenge I posted on Psychfic where I wanted a Doctor Who/Psych crossover. The Doctor and Donna are in-between The Wasp and the Unicorn and Silence in the Library. The Psych gang is about 2 years after Sydney first came to Santa Barbara. **

**BBC owns Doctor Who and USA Network owns Psych. **

**Enough from me! **

**Alons-y!**

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><p>"Oi! Spaceman!"<p>

The Doctor hit his head on the TARDIS console, letting out a couple words that he felt the TARDIS wouldn't translate for the waiting Donna Noble. "What is it, Donna?"

"You said come find you in an hour."

Rubbing the back of his head, he untangled himself from the wires he'd been working on before coming out into the control room. "Has it really been an hour?"

"Where are we going?

The Doctor couldn't help but smile that the expectant look on his companions face. Granted, when he'd first started with Donna, he wasn't sure how this could go. But now, a few months into their time together, he couldn't imagine not having her here.

She wasn't Rose…

He shook his head, shoving all thoughts of his pink and yellow human out. She was gone, and tried as he might, she was never coming back.

"Doctor?"

He looked up to see Donna looking at him, the expectant look having been replaced with one of concern. "You okay?"

He felt a smile grow on his face as he darted to the far side of the console. "I'm always okay! Now, where shall we go today? There's this planet, two solar systems away from Earth called Lumiere."

"I've heard that word before."

"French for light on Earth" The Doctor adjusted the coordinates. "Well anyways, there are two species on Lumiere, the Glimmers and the Shimmers."

"You're kidding."

"I have better things to do then make up this stuff." The Doctor rolled his eyes at the look of shock on his companions face. You'd think she wouldn't be surprised anymore. "Anyways, the two races spent a thousand years at war over each other over a patch of land the size of Buckingham Palace."

"That small?"

He shrugged. "Something to do with a sacred temple that once stood there. But the war ended."

"You didn't have anything to do with that."

"Well, maybe, not really, there was that… but that's not the point!" He flipped a switch. "To celebrate the end of the war, a fantastic light display was put on. They were known for it back before the war. The sun they orbit around can be manipulated so they can have 24 hour days, eternal nights, and take parts of it for a light display that makes the Northern lights look like a candle. The display to end the war was a collection of both civilizations' achievements in the filed. Each year they duplicate it."

"We're going to see the display." Donna held on to one of the coral struts as the TARDIS began to shake.

"Yup!" The Doctor pulled a lever. "Alons-y!"

* * *

><p>The lights were on in the Psych office as Sydney pulled her car into her spot. No doubt, her Dad and Gus were either in a movie marathon or playing some video game that was usually reserved for kids that were at least 20 years younger.<p>

Not that she complained. As long as they didn't beat her high score.

That caused her to laugh. Oh, her dad's face when she'd beaten his high score. She wasn't sure whose was more priceless, his or Gus'.

Taking the clip out of her hair, she let it fall down onto her shoulders out of the tight bun it seemed to stay in for the last few days. Semi-satisfied that she looked a little less like a CIA agent, she got out of the car, leaving her luggage in the back seat.

Quick hello and then home for a long, hot bath.

Peeking in the window, she saw that it was a movie night, and that Jules had joined them. Letting herself in, she stood in the doorway until Gus looked up. "Sydney! When did you get back?"

"About ten minutes ago."

She didn't get much else out before her dad was over wrapping her in a hug. "Everything go okay?"

His question was so quiet, she knew she was the only one who heard it. "Yeah, nothing I can't handle."

He held her close for another minute and she let him. She was finally almost used to actually having a dad in her life and she had to admit it wasn't half bad.

"So what cases did you solve without me?"

Her dad settled back onto the couch next to Jules as Sydney perched onto his desk. "The usual, a robbery, a cheating case."

"That I told you not to take." Gus didn't look away from the screen.

"You now we needed the money."

"Dad, you know I can help with that, right?"

He gave her a look. "It wasn't a big deal, just involved me on a six hour stake out."

"Anything current?"

All three looked at each other before shaking their heads. "It's been a quiet week."

"That won't last long." Sydney stood up as she let out a yawn. "Y'all enjoy your movie. I'm headed to Gramps for a long hot bath and my own bed."

"So the chances of seeing you before noon tomorrow are…"

"Slim to none. Night guys."

Sydney headed out the door as a chorus of "goodnights" followed her out. You know, there really was something in the statement, "there's no place like home."

She stopped cold just outside the Psych office, and for a minute just watched the waves as they crashed on the beach.

Was this really home?

For a long time, even after she moved her, she couldn't quite think of this as home.

A smile spread on her face as she made her way to her car, putting the top down as she started it up, backed it out of the space, and headed for the road.

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><p><strong>Not too long, you know how it is with me, I like to write longer chapters as I go. Not sure how long its going to be before these teams run into each other (I'm almost feeling a Partners in Crime situation coming). <strong>

**We'll see!**

**Til next time! **


	2. Writing On The Arm

**What? A chapter 2 days in a row? What can I say, I had a productive day. Don't expect it too often, but I have some of the next one written too and the opening scene of chapter four in my head (which promises to be epic if I can capture it right). **

**But you don't want to here me chatter on! Go on, read! Oh, and thanks, phnxgrl, for the review! I'm glad to see her back too :) **

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><p>It was almost three the next afternoon before Sydney finally stopped by the SBPD. Enjoying the feeling of jeans and a t-shirt, she slipped inside, nodding to the Officer Jessie Miller who was behind the front desk.<p>

"When did you get back?"

"Late last night." Sydney stopped at the window. "How are the kids?"

Jessie's face lit up in a far away smile. "They're great. All over the place."

Sydney let out a laugh. "I bet."

Eyeing the line of people who needed Jessie's attention. She stepped to the side. "Talk to you later."

"Later, Sydney."

Sydney made her way into the station, stopping to talk to officers along the way. Finally, she made her way to the desk of her favorite head detective only to find he wasn't at his desk.

Not that that had ever stopped her.

Sitting in his chair, she propped her feet on his desk, pulling her phone out of her pocket and opening the iBooks app. Something about a Vince Flynn novel settled her. He wasn't that far off from how it really was and she appreciated that in his writing.

Shame he'd passed away.

The clearing of a throat brought her away from the case Mitch Rapp was working on and back to the present day. Looking up, she saw Lassie standing there, two cups of coffee in his hands, eyebrows raised at her. "Last I checked, that was my desk."

"That's a real technicality." Sydney pulled her chair out of the corner and took the cup of coffee. "But I guess I'll let you have it."

She sat down the coffee cup and pulled him into a hug. "I see you kept the station from imploding while I was gone."

"You were only gone a month."

"Felt like longer." She plopped down in the chair, feet back up on the desk.

"Hard case?"

She shrugged. "Not too hard, just not used to it anymore. I've learned I'm happier here. Well, didn't learn that, just realized it more."

"Going to take any more." Lassie sat down at his desk and started checking his emails.

"Probably. It's hard to give it up completely. But I told them I'm not going back full time."

"Ever?"

"Probably not. After all, someone has to keep my father in line."

She picked the moment where Lassie was taking a sip of his coffee and then enjoyed a laugh as he almost snorted it right back out. Taking a minute to compose himself, he turned to her. "Did you do that on purpose?"

"Me?" She felt a smile grow on her face.

With a sigh, he started typing a response, Sydney took a second to look around. People were at work, but it almost looked like they had been right the night before.

It was quiet.

Too quiet.

The door to the chief's office slammed open. "Detective Lassiter."

His head snapped up. "Yes, Chief?"

"Get, Ohara, I mean Spencer and head down to Willow Park. There's been a murder and this one looks like it's going to be a doozy. Miss Collins, when did you get back?"

"Late last night."

"Are you okay with being back on duty this quick?" The concern in her eyes was genuine and Sydney couldn't help at smile at the woman who couldn't help but mother her now and then.

"I'm fine, Chief." Sydney jumped up, sliding her chair back into it's corner. "Jules!"

The woman in question came up the stairs. "Sydney! When did you get here?"

"A few minutes ago. But we've got a case." Grabbing Lassie's car keys, she tossed them to him when he came after them. "So, are we carpooling?"

* * *

><p>If Sydney had known what was waiting for her, she would have taken her time getting to the crime scene. When the chief had said it was a doozy, she wasn't kidding.<p>

In front of her, lay the body of what had been a sixteen year old girl with her whole future ahead of her. Her head was split open, revealing an empty brain cavity, and there was a gaping wound in the chest where the heart had been.

"What kind of sicko takes the heart and brain?" Sydney slid on her gloves and began examining the body, ignoring the smell that was already coming off the body. It was a warm day and that wasn't helping matters.

"A special kind of sicko." Lassie was looking through the wallet of the victim. "We've got an Olivia Carden, 16, lives about a mile from here."

"She was only 16?" Sydney felt a feeling in her gut at the idea of only being a few years older than the girl.

Lassie grunted confirmation. "Are you getting anything?"

"Well, she was running. Listening to music. She's been dead for at least 16 hours." Looking around the little used section of the park, she knew why it had taken someone so long to find her. "It could be as simple as wrong place wrong time. Something tells me not to make a profile out of this."

"Will the killer strike again?" Jules sounded worthy.

Sydney looked around the scene. "Honestly? I don't know."

The examination continued, and Sydney decided she could have gone the rest of her life without knowing what the inside of a human head looks like when it's missing its brain — or with it's brain for that matter. Sadly, both ships had officially sailed.

"What's this?" A small mark was on the neck, just behind the right ear. "It looks like the victim was injected with something."

"Something tells me the heart and brain were removed post-mortem." With a sigh, she continued the psychic act. "I'm sensing that the cause of death will be due to something that was injected into the bloodstream."

Moving down to the arms, Sydney noticed a tattoo. At first, she thought it was a poem or something, it was four lines of what looked like writing. But, she realized she didn't recognize it.

Granted, that didn't say much, she didn't know all the languages of the world. But she had thought she knew enough to at least recognize most of them. But this one looked like something she'd never seen before.

Waving over the photographer, she nodded to the writing. "I want this photographed and the image analyzed. I want to know what it says and what language it is in ASAP."

"Yes, ma'am."

"What have I said about calling me ma'am. I'm at least ten years too young for that."

The man laughed as Sydney positioned the arm so he could get a good photo. "Sorry, Sydney."

"It's okay."

Photos taken, Sydney continued her examination but found nothing else that was over suspicious. "I'm sensing that writing holds the key."

Stepping away from the body, Sydney finally allowed it to be loaded into a bag before it was placed on a gurney. "Tell Woody I want a text as soon as he's done with the autopsy."

"Sure thing, Sydney."

Looking over her shoulder, she saw Lassie and Jules waiting for her. "If you guys are ready, I say we head back to the station. I want a background check on the girl."

* * *

><p>The TARDIS was quiet, minus the constant warm hum of her presence as the Doctor roamed the halls. After the light show, which had been better than the original in his book, Donna had retired to her room and according to his guess, which was really never wrong, she wouldn't be up for at least another four hours.<p>

He walked down the hall, past the familiar door with a rose on it, pausing to lay his hand on it. "I'm sorry."

With a sigh, he walked down the hall, past the pool, past the garden, and into the library where there was already a fire burning, a cup of tea waiting, and his book sitting in a chair not too far from the fire.

"Thanks, old girl."

A hum was his answer and he felt a smile fill his face. Sitting down, he opened his book and continued to read through the 51st century sci-fi story. Something about making fun of everything they got wrong relaxed him. Granted it was fiction and they were allowed to think what they wanted but seriously?

Lost in the world of the story, he didn't hear the beeping that came from down the hall right away.

"Doctor?"

Looking up, he saw Donna in the doorway, her eyes still full of sleep.

"Everything okay?"

"Where is that beeping coming from?"

The beeping registered then and he sat his book down and followed the sound. Behind him, he could hear Donna following.

"Sounds like the TARDIS picked up one something." He reached the console room and the beeping grew louder. "What did you find?"

The screen lit up with what looked to be a news story. "Body of Teenaged Girl Found in Park."

"The TARDIS is going nuts over a murder? Those happen all the time?"

"Nice way to put it." The Doctor tilted the screen. "You sound like you've been around me too long."

He felt Donna next to him and saw her reading the screen. "Doctor, what's that on her arm?"

"Her arm?"

A picture of the body lay at the park and one of the pictures was of an arm.

Then he noticed who else was in the shot. "Sydney! Oh, oh!"

"What? Who's Sydney?"

"We met, once. Well, I met her. She hasn't met me."

"What?"

The Doctor turned away from the console. "I'm a time traveler."

"Duh."

The Doctor let out a sigh. "I travel through time, sometimes crossing the same spot within a couple years of a visit."

"Yeah, like we go to visit Gramps."

"Right."

"So, a few years ago, Rose…" He let out a sigh. "Rose and I followed a signal to Santa Barbara, California. There, we met a group of people who work for the police department there. Though how that arrangement works, I'll never know."

"You know, you have this habit of rambling."

"Well, they knew me, but I didn't know them. Plus, I should have realized that something was up when they didn't recognize Rose…"

"It wasn't your fault." Donna put a hand on his shoulder.

He let out a sigh. "Anyways, I knew I'd have to go back someday."

"What does this have to do with the writing?"

"That writing. That's not possible." He turned a couple knobs and had the shoot zoom in. Unfortunately, the picture blurred as he got closer to the writing.

"What's not possible?"

"That's Trojan."

"Like Troy? Like the Iliad and the Odessy?"

"No, like the planet. It's a couple galaxies away from Earth. But you were close. Rumor has it a Trojan crash landed on Earth when Homer was just a little boy. Stayed with his family for a few months and told him stories of his homeland. Must have stuck and he wrote two of the most famous works that Earth will ever produce. When word got back, well Homer is a saint back on Troy."

"So what? Another one crash landed on Earth and murdered the girl?"

"I don't know Donna. But how do you feel about a trip to California?"

"California? As in the United States? Sunny beaches, superstars, did I mention the beach?"

"Beach yes. Stars, not so much. We're headed for two hours north of Los Angeles."

"Where?"

"Santa Barbara." The Doctor started setting the coordinates. "And I'd suggest you hold on."

* * *

><p><strong>That's it for now. Might wait a couple days to upload the next chapter so that you won't have but so long wait in between because I'm not sure how much I'll be able to write during the week. <strong>

**Til next time...**


	3. Language Unknown

**Here's the next chapter! Btw, something changed in chapter 2 (I decided to change my approach just a bit) so you might want to go and take a look. **

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><p>Early the next morning, Sydney's phone rang waking her out of her dream. With a groan, she turned over and answered it. "Collins."<p>

"Are you still in bed?" Her dad's voice rang out.

"Are you up?"

A laugh answered her. "Yeah, Gus and I went to breakfast."

Sydney pulled her covers up. "Good for you."

"Did you just pull your cover up?"

"Did you just attempt to pull a 'I'm a psychic' on me?"

"Fair enough."

Sydney shut her eyes, allowing herself to drift.

"Hey, kid?"

Her eyes snapped open. "Yeah?"

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, fine. Just catching up on sleep."

"Well, Woody finished his autopsy and the Chief wants us all there."

"Did they finish analyzing the writing?" Sydney pulled the covers back and finally sat up.

"What writing?"

"Oh, what did the great head psychic not know about the writing?"

There was rustling on the other side. "Actually, all of Santa Barbara knows about it."

"What?"

"There's a pic of the arm on the front page."

"Who took that?" Sydney stood up, stretching.

"The usual guy."

"Peachy." Sydney headed downstairs, following the smell of coffee. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

Hanging up, she walked into the kitchen and made her way to the coffeepot.

"Morning, kid."

"Morning, Gramps." She poured herself a cup of coffee before opening up the door to the back gate. "Hey there, Chipper."

She knelt down beside the hutch as the rabbit hopped out. "I missed you too little buddy."

Rubbing his favorite spot under his chin, she checked his food and water before headed back inside. "Thanks for keeping an eye on him."

"He's grown on me." Gramps took a sip of his coffee as he went back to reading the paper. "Who was on the phone."

"Dad." Sydney took a sip of her coffee, inhaling the rich aroma.

"What did he want?"

"The murder from yesterday. Woody finished his autopsy."

"Anything on the writing?"

"Not that he knew." Sydney took her cup and headed back to her room. Throwing on the first outfit she could find, she eyed the full hamper in the corner. "Note to self, do laundry soon."

Running a brush through her hair, she pulled it into a ponytail before grabbing her keys, phone, and sunglasses. "I'm heading to the station."

"Are you coming home for dinner?"

"I'll call you if I'm not." She headed out the door, saying goodbye to Chipper as she headed to her car. Getting in, she turned on the radio and headed to the station.

It only took her about ten minutes to pull in and grabbed her usual spot. "You know you've been here for awhile when they give you a spot."

Putting her top up, she got out of the car and headed into the station, passing officers on their way out. Finally, she made it to Lassie's desk and found her dad, Gus, and Jules all waiting. "I didn't think I took that long!"

The group laughed before her dad spoke up. "So Sleeping Beauty got out of bed."

"Hush." She gave him a shove.

"Miss Collins, you're here."

"Just got here, did they get anything on that writing?"

The only answer she got was a file being handed to her. Opening the file, she saw a bunch of data that she skimmed until she came to the results.

Language unknown.

"Unknown?"

Chief Vick nodded. "Our specialist ran it against samples of every known language and couldn't find a match."

"Well, that's never happened before. Do you mind if I send this to a friend?"

"Go ahead."

Sydney sat down at Lassie's desk. "I'm using your computer."

Grabbing her phone, Sydney logged into the CIA data base on the computer as she dialed a number. "Kari, its Sydney."

"Sydney! Are you still here?"

"No, I'm back in Santa Barbara."

"Home sweet home?"

"Yeah. Hey listen. I'm sending you a sample."

"Okay.

She clicked the send button. "Check for it."

"Is that a human arm?" She could hear the disgust in Kari's voice.

"Yes, that is a human arm."

"That's disgusting and wrong."

"You think I don't know that?" Sydney checked her messages real quick. "Send me a text when you're done with it."

"Will do."

Hanging up, she logged out and got up. "Time to see what Woody has for us?"

Leading the way, she headed down to the examination room and found Woody waiting beside a sheet covered table. "Sydney, any idea what that writing is?"

"The guy here couldn't figure it out so I've got an old friend looking in on it."

"Well, this was an interesting autopsy."

"I had a feeling you were going to say that."

"Can we get on with this?" Lassie let out an impatient sigh.

"Sure thing, Detective." Woody put his hands on the table. "You've all seen the body, so I'll leave it covered for now. "We have Olivia Carden, 16, blood type A positive."

"Time of Death?"

"About midnight yesterday."

Sydney felt a smile grow on her face. "I've still got it."

"Got what?" Her dad looked confused.

"Sydney called the time of death yesterday at the crime scene."

"Though that might have been not so much psychic and a little more I've been around a few too many dead bodies." Sydney shrugged. "We've got a time, what about the cause?"

"Well, surprisingly. The brain and the heart were removed post-mortem."

"Once again, called it." Sydney let that side comment out under her breath.

"So, if that didn't kill her, what did?" Jules had a small smile on her face. Apparently someone had heard that.

"She was… poisoned?"

"Why don't you sound sure, Woody?" Gus finally seemed to get over his initial wave of nausea.

"Because, there was a substance in her bloodstream. But I've never seen it before."

"Let me see." Sydney took the file Woody handed her and looked at the chemical breakdown. "Okay, granted I took an expedited course courtesy of the CIA. But what are these?"

"That's just it." Woody nodded to the file. "There are six different chemicals in here and three of them don't actually exist."

"But they do. They're in her bloodstream." Lassie held his hand out and Sydney handed him the file.

"Don't worry, I made you a copy." Woody handed her a second file.

"You're the best, Woodman."

"Thanks, kid."

Sydney headed for the door. "I'll be in my office. Might see if I can dig something up on this."

"So, where are we again?"

The Doctor let out a sigh as they stepped out of the TARDIS and into what looked like a hallway. "Santa Barbara, California, United States, North America, Earth, in the year." He licked a finger and put it in the air like he was testing the wind. "2015, July, I think it's a Tuesday."

"You just like to show off." Donna shut the door, hiding the TARDIS away.

The Doctor looked at the door. "Hmm, that's convenient."

"Wait, 2015, that's not even ten years into the future. I wonder if I'm still traveling with you. I wonder…"

"Stop right there, Donna. It's a bad bad bad bad bad idea for you to see your own future."

"That's a lot of bads."

"That doesn't begin to cover it." The Doctor started off down the hallway. "I guess the first step is to figure out where we are."

Looking around, he realized why that door looked familiar. "Oh, of course."

"What?"

"I just parked in Sydney's office. We'll find her in a bit."

He headed down the hallway catching a glimpse of Sydney hanging up from her phone call. "Donna, come on. Things to do. Beach to visit and a case to solve.

Behind him, he heard the sound of rushing feet and knew Donna was catching up. "Wait, wasn't that?"

"Shhh, she can't know yet." The Doctor held a finger in front of Donna's mouth.

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><p><strong>Hope you enjoyed! More soon!<strong>

**Til next time...**


	4. Curiosity Killed The Cat

**AN: **It wasn't that I forgot about this story, it was more that things got in the way and I continuously had to shove this back. Plus, I'll admit I'm trying to figure out what happens and where exactly this is going.

Thanks to Thalia grace is bae for her review which got my butt into gear to give you this chapter. Hope you enjoy it!

"What's up, Kari?" Sydney answered the ringing phone as she made her way back from Woody's office to her office. And by office, she meant the storage room that she converted into a space for herself.

And yes, Chief Vick knew. Everyone knew. But they left her alone when she was down there and that's why she needed a space.

And right now, she needed it.

"Well, I thought I'd seen everything."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, this doesn't exist."

"What?"

"The language. It doesn't exist. I ran it, ran it again, and for kicks ran it a third time and nothing. Language doesn't exist. Maybe it's gibberish."

"I don't think so." Sydney passed a man in a long trench coat talking to a red haired lady about going to the beach. "I think that writing means something. I mean, it was on her arm."

"Keep me updated, I'm curious now."

"Will do." Sydney hung up the phone as she turned a corner and slammed the door open to her office.

But it wasn't her office. Instead it was an impossibly large room with a console of some sort in the middle that had a tube run through it that went to a ceiling that in no way could in fact be that tall. Along the wall were coral struts. At least, she guessed they were coral.

Backing up, she came back into the hallway and looked around. It was mostly deserted, people rarely came down this far these days. Partially why she'd picked the location.

Back inside, the… whatever this was. Sydney circled the console. Placing a hand on it, she quickly jerked it back when she felt the faint humming. "You're a machine?"

A low tone rang out, causing Sydney to jump, it was almost as if it disapproved. "Not a machine."

A hum answered.

"Alive?"

The hum was a little more positive.

"An alive, something parked in my office."

If a machine could shrug then nod, that's what Sydney felt it would have done.

"You're not from here. You're alien. But aliens don't exist." Sydney walked around the room and noticed there were doors going further into the ship. "But this isn't possible. Its just a converted closet. There's barely room for a desk, whiteboard, and my punching bag."

Lights near the ceiling light up and a hum sounded.

"Right, here you are. So aliens, they exist?"

Sydney was still trying to wrap her mind around this fact. "Aliens exist and there are some in Santa Barbara? Some in the police station."

Looking at the door, she saw the words "Police Call Box" above the door. "What's a police call box?"

And now she was torn. She should go upstairs, tell Lassie her suspicions. But the idea made her stop cold. Who would believe her? And she knew how this would go. She'd drag everyone down here and this wouldn't be here.

"On the other hand." Sydney looked to one of the doors, well more importantly, to the hallway beyond. "When does one get a chance to explore an alien ship."

A hum that Sydney could have sworn sounded like a laugh sounded. "You approve?"

Another hum.

She reached the doorway, and saw the hallway extended for an impossible length beyond. But something stopped her and she turned to look at the door. "What am I thinking?"

What was she thinking?

This was totally irresponsible and went against every fiber of her training. But at the same time, there was just something about this, something that just made her want to go. Do. Explore.

Another hum sounded.

Sydney let out a sigh. "If I walk past this door I'm doing it for every kid that ever wanted to explore an alien spaceship. Who am I kidding, I'd regret this for the rest of my life if I didn't at least take a peek."

Going back, she shut the door, not wanting a random officer to find this. Plus, shut door meant she wouldn't be disturbed, well unless the owner came back.

Came back and found her.

"Oh, that's going to be fun." Looking at the ceiling, she came back to a doorway. "So, where to?"

The first few doors were locked and Sydney assumed that the ship was protecting the owner. One finally opened and Sydney found herself in the largest wardrobe room she'd ever seen. As far as she could see, there were clothes, clothes, and more clothes. Men's, Women's, was that a full set of Roman armor?

"Wow." Sydney looked at the rack and found a row of brown trench coats as well as some suits. Chucks lined the floor. "Hmm, interesting choices."

She wandered through the racks, finding Victorian gowns, poodle skirts, outfits with too many arms, or too many legs, hats, helmets, if it was clothes, she found it.

Back in the hallway, she continued on, passing a kitchen that looked like it could belong in a home, not an alien ship. Dishes were in the sink and a mug was left on the table.

A pool was down the hall, followed by a garden, art gallery, and a shooting range? Were those pears?

"This is all fun, but I still need to figure out what that writing means."

The ship hummed and a doorway seemed to flash for a second.

Walking to the door, Sydney put a hand on it. "I'll find my answers in here?"

A hum sounded and Sydney opened the door. On the other side was the biggest, most amazing library she'd ever laid her eyes on. And that was saying something because she'd been in quite a few. But she wandered into a hallway like part that had…

She counted them twice to be sure.

Five stories of books met her. The stories were broken into alcoves that made Sydney want to figure out how they were broken up. But she knew she didn't have time do go through all that. Walking through the hallway, she came into a room that was straight out of Beauty and the Beast.

A rich, almost royal blue carpet lined the floor as tables sat in various places along the massive room. But the walls were lined from floor to impossibly high ceiling with books. A fireplace was on one wall, a couple of couches and chairs around it and a fire roaring in the place.

"How am I supposed to find the answers to my questions in all this? This room alone would take a lifetime to go through."

A hum of impatience filled the air and Sydney looked to see a coffee mug sitting on a table next to a pile of books. "Something tells me you want me to start there."

Peeking in the mug, she saw that it was full, but not of coffee, but tea. "Very British."

Settling in the seat, she realized it was just the way she liked it. "Thanks."

Well, nothing else but to hit the books.

She had no idea how much time had passed but she was in the middle of a book about the history of a race called the Trojans that felt an awful like the stuff she'd read of Homer. What started as an attempt to skim through this led her to reading it. It was fascinating.

At some point, she'd left the table and had curled up on a couch by the fireplace. It felt like something out of a dream.

"So what was the point of that?"

"You wanted a beach day and you got it."

"But you still haven't explained to me about running into that girl."

Sydney heard voices coming down the hall and looked up from her book. It was in that moment that she realized just how Goldilocks felt in The Three Bears.

"She should be just in here."

And in the door walked the man from earlier followed by the red-hared woman. "There she is! How are you liking my library, Sydney?"

Sydney looked to the man, to the woman, and back again. "Who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor. This is Donna."

"Hi." The red-head waved.

"Is this your ship?"

"Yup." He popped the p. "Known as the TARDIS."

"TARDIS?" sounded like something made up. Then again, she would have said this whole place was made up if you'd asked her a couple of hours ago.

"That's Time And Relative Dimension In Space."

"She's beautiful. I mean, this library is…" Sydney looked around.

"She must like you, not everyone could just come in like that." His tone was gentle, more teasing that accusing and Sydney felt herself relax a little.

"You parked her in my office door. She felt bad for me."

"I've told him he should watch where he parks it."

"Thank you, Donna."

"How did you know my name?"

"We've met."

"I think I would remember this library." She nodded to the books above the fireplace. "And this tea, I've had a lot of tea over the years."

"Comes with the territory."

"You just did it again."

"What?" He gave her a look that reminded her of someone humoring a small child.

"You know my name and now you are acting like you know who I am."

"You're a lot more lippy when you aren't in the loop."

"Cause I'm always in the loop." Sydney bit her lip. "Well, right now I'm not."

"Oh, but you will be." The Doctor sat down on the other side of the couch. "In fact, you are going to pay me back for this eventually."

"Am I?"

"She is?" Donna's question came at the same time.

The Doctor let out a sigh as Donna took a seat on one of the chairs. On the table between them, three mugs appeared. "Thanks."

Donna picked up a mug and took a sip. "Sydney's right, the TARDIS does make the best cup of tea."

"So the TARDIS, she's your ship."

"Yup."

"But… she's alien. I mean this couldn't come from Earth."

"Yup."

"So you're alien." Sydney took a sip of tea as he nodded. Turning to Donna, she tried to make sense of all this. "And you?"

"Human 100 percent."

Sydney let out a sigh. "So these Trojans, which by the way sound an awful lot like Homer's writing, they're responsible for the murder of Olivia Carden?"

"Who?"

"The girl, dumbo." Donna rolled her eyes. Sydney shrugged, trying to hold in a laugh.

"Ah, yes. Do you have a better shot of that writing?"

Sydney pulled out her phone and pulled up the picture. "Can you read it?"

The Doctor took her phone, pulled a pair of glasses out of his pocket, put them on, and looked at the phone. "Hmmm, interesting."

"What?"

"Well."

Sydney's phone chose that moment to ring. The Doctor handed it to her as she saw it was Lassie calling. "Collins."

"Sydney, there's been another murder."

"Where?"

"West Beach."

"Are you at the scene?"

"No, I'm still at the station. Where have you been?"

"My office. I'll be up in a few." Sydney hung up the phone. "There's been another murder."

A look crossed the Doctor's face for just a second, something most people would have missed.

"Can you help?"

He nodded.

"Good." Sydney downed the cup of tea before gathering the rest. "Donna, you have a pantsuit right?"

"Yeah."

"Good, put it on. We're going to crime scene and I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'll cover for you." Sydney headed for the kitchen and put the mug in the sink before retuning to the library to find the Doctor hadn't moved.

"Doctor?"

She saw he was holding the book she had been working on. "You were reading this?"

"Yeah, it was interesting, once you accepted the whole aliens are real thing. I mean, I heard about the things in London but didn't actually believe that."

"Really?" He turned to face her. "Why?"

"Why would I?" She sat back down. "I wasn't one of those believe in fairy tales kind of girls. I knew there was good, evil, a whole lot of grey, and people that were meant to keep the balance."

"You've got a career that people three times your age would be impressed with."

"What's the point of it all though?" Sydney let out a sigh. "I'm not sure why I'm even telling you all this."

"I like to think its because I have one of those faces." A smirk made its way onto the Doctor's face.

"I'm sure that's it." Sydney laughed.

"Do I look okay?" Donna stood in the doorway of the library.

Stepping back out into the hallway, Sydney couldn't help but do a double take. "Weird."

"What?"

Turning to the Doctor and Donna she couldn't help but feel a little sheepish. "I know you haven't moved, but it's weird to step out of there and back to normal."

Heading down the hallway, she made her way upstairs to where Lassie waited. "Dad meeting us at the scene?"

He nodded. "Yeah, he and Guster went to grab lunch."

Pulling out her phone, she sent a quick text. "Good, they can bring me some, I skipped it by accident."

She noticed that Lassie wasn't looking at her but behind her. "Oh, right. Doctor John Smith and Agent Donna Noble, this is Head Detective Carlton Lassiter. Lassie, these are some friends from MI6 that surprised me with a visit. This kind of thing is up their alley so I invited them to come take a look at the crime scene."

"Pleasure to meet you, Doctor Smith, Agent Noble." Lassie held out his hand.

"Same, Detective." The Doctor shook his hand.

"So, I'll follow you to the crime scene and finish briefing them on the way." Sydney grabbed her keys off his desk and headed for the door. "West Beach?"

"Near life guard stand 24." Lassie hollered after her as she headed for her car, footsteps behind her telling her that the Doctor and Donna were following.

They arrived at Sydney's car and she chose to keep the top up as the Doctor slid into the seat next to her.

"I've got a question." Donna asked as her seatbelt clicked closed. "You can't possibly be old enough to know all this. Shouldn't you be in school?"

"I've got a degree in Criminal Justice with a minor in Psychology. I've got a masters in both and give me a little bit to finish my dissertation and I'll have my doctorate." Sydney turned to the Doctor. "Then you won't be the only Doctor in this car."

"But you're only what, 25?"

The Doctor snorted.

"19, I'll be 20 in a few months."

"I'm confused."

Sydney laughed as she backed out of her spot and headed for the beach. "You're going to meet my father in a few minutes and he has an eidetic memory and an extremely high IQ, even if he doesn't always show it."

Another snort from the Doctor.

"He got into some trouble with my mother when they were 18 and my mom ended up moving back to the East Coast before I was born. We'll fast forward in his time line about ten years and he's back here in Santa Barbara and accidentally gets accused on a case he called in a tip for. To save his own skin, he said he got the information because he was psychic."

"When it was his memory and the fact that his father trained him since he was little."

"Is this your second time getting this lecture?"

"Parts of it, others I looked up after I met you before."

"Before for you, after for me?"

She saw him nod in the rearview mirror. "But keep going, Donna doesn't know."

"This sounds like it should be on a TV show."

"You don't need to tell me." Sydney laughed. "So, he's been running Psych with his best friend Burton Guster, but everyone calls him Gus for about ten years now."

"But how do you fit in with all this?"

Sydney sighed. "When I was three, I wanted to take martial arts. When most little girls wanted to learn ballet, I wanted to learn judo. Also, I was enrolled in a jumpstart program but was actually doing first second grade work. I was reading and writing at 2 and by age five was at a fifth grade reading level."

"Wow."

Sydney shrugged. "Mom did everything she could to make sure I had every chance I needed and there was talk of me skipping a few grades and starting school in third or fourth grade in the fall."

"But how did you end up here?"

"The CIA has a branch that allows younger agents to work certain types of cases, mainly events where security is needed but traditional methods aren't helpful. Sometimes, agents will leave this branch and move to more traditional missions but other times those don't work out. But they contacted my mother about allowing me to come to work for them. They schooled me along with training sessions and I have the equivalent of my GED by age 10. I did online classes in between missions got my degree at 13, then my masters at 15 and 16. The only reason I don't have my doctorate is because…"

Sydney let out a sigh.

"Because of what."

"There was a case, I started doing solo missions at 12, something that was unheard of. But I was good at what I did. But when I was seventeen there were reports of a serial killer working his way up and down the East Coast. They were calling him the Last Words Killer."

"And you got his case." Donna's voice was quiet.

"I did, and I tracked him up and down the coast for two months before finding him just outside of DC. I got him, and man was that satisfying. But he told me I should check on my mother just as I got something over the wire telling me to come by my house."

"No."

Sydney nodded. "She was there, about to breath her last and I held her as she did. I let him get too close, I should have stopped him, but I didn't and she's…"

Taking a couple deep breaths, she focused on the road.

"I looked at that case. That wasn't your fault."

"Even almost two years later, it's hard for me to accept. But I called it quits then, said I wanted out, packed up, and came west searching for my father. Mom had a binder with clips of him on the news so I knew who he was and what he did. I came out here and started a new life."

"How did he take your past?"

"He didn't know. I went about six months with only Lassie knowing."

"You lied to them?"

Sydney nodded. "People don't know that your a prodigy that can shoot a target at 1200 feet and not always be looking and have nailed more serial killers, protected more presidents, and been undercover and then they don't judge you."

"How did they find out?"

"The Last Words Killer broke out of prison and came to Santa Barbara to settle a score. And after I took care of him, I started working cases again. Not often, just ones now and then."

"Sydney, how many weapons are you carrying right now?" The Doctor broke into the conversation.

"I've cut back, there's only three on me."

"That's cutting back?"

"I had about a dozen at one point. But just three, two guns and my favorite knife set."

"Two guns?"

"One tucked into my jeans the other around my ankle." Sydney shifted in her seat. "Not that I'm a fan of using them, but sometimes you don't have a choice, right Doctor?"

It was his turn to let out a sigh.

"He hates weapons." Donna butted in.

"Doesn't mean he hasn't seen death, caused it."

"How do you know?"

"The same way I know she has." She heard the Doctor shift in his seat. "It's in her eyes."

"And your's are so old." Sydney turned into the parking lot of the beach, finding police cars all over. "Alright, let's see what we've got."

**AN: **That's it for now! If you want to see some fun hijinks as these two shows truly start to meet, I am open to suggestions. I'd love to hear what you guys think!


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